Babe
by writer-of-demigodishness
Summary: A Futute!Luke/Jessie story. Written for MidnightRose24. I hope you enjoy it! When randomly running into a blast from your past, things are discovered between both Jessie and Luke. Is it possible for it to not be awkward between them? And will Luke ever stop calling Jessie 'Babe?


**SO. Recently, the show Jessie has come to my attention- well, more like Cameron Boyce, the most adorable and talented 13 year old ever, who also plays Luke Ross, has captured my heart. And MidnightRose24 wanted me to write this for her. And I was more than happy to! It's over 3,000 words, and I'm really happy with it. I hope you enjoy it as well.**

**Future!Luke/Jessie **

**Disclaimer: Do I look like Disney to you? **

* * *

"...Jessie? Is that you?"

She stopped her quick pace down the sidewalk and turned towards the voice. A man strode up to her, weaving in and out between other people, a grin evident on his face. "That's definitely you. Wow, it's been forever, babe," he noted, coming to a stop in front of her

Jessie's eyes widened, her brow shooting up to her hair line. "Babe? Did you just call me babe? **No one** calls me babe." She said this while flailing her arms around, wiggling her finger in his face in a 'nu-uh' gesture.

The man chuckled, the smile never fading from his admittedly handsome face. "Yes, I did, though I don't think I can get away with it as well as I used to." He raised a brow at her stare as it traveled up and down his body. "Guess I must have filled out. And quite nicely, from the way you're staring at me. Ah, still the same old Jessie."

It shouldn't have taken her this long to connect the dots, but you had to give her a break, it had been four years, at least since she last saw him, and even then he was still a scrawny 18 year old who still kept Kenny the Koala on his bedside table. But now... yes, he had filled out. Quite nicely, as he had put it.

"Luke," she said, his name tasting foreign on her tongue from lack of use, "I-I can't believe it's you."

He chuckled. "You remembered! Yes, it's me. Why don't we head over to the coffee shop and, uh, catch up?" he suggested, grinning sheepishly at her. His freckles that had always sported his face, covering his nose and cheek bones had hardly diminished over the years and yet he still looked boyish, only with the build of a man.

Jessie bit her lip in worry. She had a meeting in a half an hour, and was supposed to make a presentation. She didn't think of it fair that she had to, considering she was not the one to call the meeting to discuss 'how to treat co-workers'.

Luke noticed her worry and gave a small smile, shaking his head. "I've caught you at a bad time, haven't I? Hey, no worries. A'ight, we'll have to take a rain check. How's tomorrow sound?"

She grinned at him and nodded. "Yeah, sure. Um, 12:30 at Mimi's Coffee Shoppe?"

"Done." Luke grinned back at her. He made a play to tip his imaginary hat and turned to walk away. "I'll see you then, babe."

"And don't call me babe!"

He turned, walking backwards, miraculously not bumping into anyone, and laughed, "Sure I won't."

A few seconds later, she had lost track of him in the crowd of people walking up and down the busy New York street. She shook her head, still not sure how that had happened, and walked the rest of the way to her work building, with only a small blush to tint her cheeks.

* * *

At 12:42, Jessie was sitting at a table for two, one chair vacant, with one hand holding a coffee and the other up towards her mouth, where she was biting her fingernails in nervousness. She wasn't quite sure why she was nervous, really. Maybe it was the fact that she hadn't seen Luke in years, and then just suddenly shows back up in her life. She knew she had changed a lot, and maybe he did too.

Or maybe the fact that he was now 13 minutes late was the reason for her habit arising again.

Thankfully, less than a minute later, the door opened, sounding the bells above it, and Luke strutted in. He tore off his sunglasses and looked around the shop. Spying Jessie in the corner, he grinned and went over to her. He took the seat opposite her and gave her a sheepish smile. "Sorry for being late, I had a call that I really needed to take."

Jessie shook her head, trying her best not to smile too big. "No, no, it's no problem. And here, for you." She pushed the cooling coffee over to him, and he glanced at her in surprise.

"Thank you. Ah, is it-?"

"Decaf with two milks, yes, just like always."

Luke laughed and shook his head. "I can't believe you remembered."

"Well, it's hard not to, you drilled it into my head for long enough. Every morning since you turned 16 it was: 'Jessie, did you get my coffee? Decaf with two milks, don't forget!'"

Luke laughed. "Oh yeah! And you would always say, 'Do you think I'd forget with you screaming it in my ear every morning, now get your lazy butt out of bed and put on some pants!'"

Jessie joined in on the laughter. "Oh yeah!"

After a minute or so, the laughter subdued and Luke shook his head. "Ah, yeah... I was a pretty rotten child, wasn't I?"

Jessie shrugged, suppressing a smile. "You weren't that bad. Your child years were pretty bad, mostly because I was still getting the hang of things, but at around 14-15 you started maturing. And you hit on me less, that's for sure," she said, jokingly.

"Actually, I was going to say I hit on you more, but whatever floats your boat."

She scoffed and smacked his shoulder playfully. "So, who was on the phone? Was it Ravi, maybe, or..?"

Luke took a sip of the coffee before answering, stalling for a few seconds. "Uh, it was my older sister, actually."

"Ah, Emma!" Jessie clapped her hands together cheerfully. "How is she? Still staring in her father's movies?"

Luke looked uncomfortable with the question and shifted in his seat. "No, um, actually that was my _real_ sister." He gazed at her hesitantly.

Jessie's brow shot up as she gave him a surprised look. "Oh," was all she managed to say.

Jessie knew that Luke was adopted, she found out in the first few months of working with the Ross's. But it came as such a surprise to her, actually. Luke looked so in touch with the family, he never mentioned it to her at all. And she never would have known, except it came to the anniversary of his parent's death. Jessie wondered why no one commented why Luke hadn't come down for breakfast, they acted silent, and when Christina came home that day, as a surprise to Jessie, she asked the mother. And that is when she found out.

Jessie spent the rest of the day in bed with Luke. She let him curl up to her, rest his head in her lap, and they sat in silence. Every once in a while he would comment on an old memory, or sniffle and ask for a tissue. She just kept a comforting hand on his back, and ran her fingers through his hair. She brought him his meals, and spent the day with him. She never said a word to him, but when he gave her a teary eyed thank you, she scooped him up in a hug, kissing the top of his head, and saying how it was her pleasure.

It became a ritual after that, each of the about-6 years that she nannied the kids. On that fateful day, she and Luke would spend the day together. Just the two of them. Even when he was 17, he found it as the only day that year that he truly cried, and Jessie held him, just as she had when he was 13. She idly wondered what he had done for the past few years, and decided it wasn't a topic to bring up over lunch.

"Yeah..." Luke replied, rubbing his neck nervously. "See, my sister, Alyssa, is, what 15 years older than me, I think, and she works at the University of Michigan, right. Well, I decided for school to go back home, to Detroit, remember. You helped me pick that school out. Turns out she was a professor for a class I had my first semester. You should have seen her face, Jessie, when I ran into class the first day, late of course (Jessie chuckled at this), and she looked at me. She looked down at the roster and then back up at me. She squeaked out my name, and then it hit me. She was my sister." He smiled fondly at the memory. "It was crazy, I had been separated from my sister for so long. All I really knew about her was she stayed in my house during the summer. I hardly had any memories of her. But there she was."

Jessie smiled at him. "I'm so happy for you, Luke. Is she married at all or..?"

He nodded. "Yes, Jimmy. And a baby on the way."

She grinned. "That's so exciting! Aw, you'll have to tell them congratulations for me."

"Will do," he agreed happily, taking another sip of the coffee. "So, what about you? How have you been? I'm assuming you were on your way to work yesterday, where's that?"

Jessie grinned. As much as she loved talking, she loved talking about her job. "Well, my friend, you remember Darla, and I decided to put together a group. We do local shows for kids and have a day-care center for the younger ones. A bunch of nannies work there, and it also provides help for teen moms and single mothers, and situations like that. It's-"

"Wait, you're the founder of Music Care? My friend's son goes there!" Luke said, eyes brightening with excitement.

"Oh, no way! Huh, wow this is a small world," she noted, sinking back into her chair. She shrugged. "So yeah, that's what I've devoted my last few years to. Coming up on its 3rd anniversary soon."

"Wow," he answered, nodding his head. "So where do you live?"

It only took Luke a few seconds before he began to blush, realizing what he just asked. "N-not that way, I'm just wondering-"

She cut him off with a laugh, "I know what you meant."

He sighed in relief and sat up a bit straighter. "So, do you have a house near here? Live with a boyfriend or fiancé maybe?" The words _boyfriend_ and _fiancé_ definitely didn't sting his tongue as he said them, no.

He also was not relieved in the least when she shook her head, a small smile on her face.

"No, I have a small apartment in Manhattan. Just me," she replied. "What about you? Still the ladies man of NYC?"

Luke laughed loudly at that one. "Please, no girl I was around could ever compare to you babe."

And oddly, the flirtatious banter fit right back in as it did all those years ago. She just rolled her eyes and gave him a look like, 'No, seriously.'

"No," he said as an answer, "I moved back home- well, not exactly, same building, different suite. Smaller, too."

Jessie nodded. "Tony still working there?"

He pretended that her words didn't irritate him as much as they did. "Yep, still a doorman. He's gotten better with his job too, apparently."

"Yeah, he said something about his boyfriend working for a hotel in Florida, so he gained some tips," she said, checking her newest text message from Darla, the sixth one today, and decided yet again to ignore it.

Luke almost choked on his coffee. "B-boyfriend?"

Jessie tilted her head to the side in confusion. "Yeah, Tony's bi, didn't you know?"

"No, I did not know that."

She smirked. "If I didn't know any better I'd say Mr. Luke Ross was jealous."

"What? Pfft, I am not... jealous... at all!"

Jessie giggled, "Alright, cool down stud, I was just kidding."

Luke laughed to cover up the blush he was now sporting, and looked down at his watch. It was just about five after one. He looked over at Jessie. "How about we get that lunch now."

She nodded enthusiastically, her stomach growling once more. "Sounds great. But if it's alright with you, I'd rather get something more hefty than a turkey wrap from the cold section over there," she said, nodding her head over to the corner where they had the lunch selections.

Luke stood with a grin. he dumped the coffee cup into the trash bin and then held out his arm for her to take. "Pizza it is then."

* * *

"So, this is the loft," Luke said, as the elevator doors opened and they stepped out. The room was beautifully decorated like the Ross home was, except it was just one floor. A balcony stretched to the left of the living room which split with the kitchen. A dining table sat on a slightly elevated platform in the corner. Two double doors on the right lead to a hall where four doors opened to a master bedroom, a guest bedroom, a bathroom, and a room Luke was using as storage.

He gave Jessie a super quick grand tour, meanwhile she stayed quiet, taking the place in. It was at least ten times as nice as the place she lived in now, and was just as awe struck as she had been when she had first walked into the Ross's home over nine years ago.

_Wow_.

She shook her head to take her out of her retrieve to see he had lead them back into the living area. After pizza and a lovely conversation about how Zuri, Ravi, and Emma were doing, they decided to head back to his place, in fact he insisted. Being her clumsy self, on the way out of the pizza place, she tripped and fell right into a puddle on the sidewalk. Apparently it rained while they were eating, and now she was soaked. Luke insisted she come back to his place, which was coincidently only a few blocks away, and he would get her some dry clothes.

Well, dry clothes sounded rather good to her, so she couldn't refuse.

"Here, take a seat on the couch. I'll go get you a change of clothes. Feel free to turn on the television, if you want," he offered, before escaping through the double doors to his bedroom. Jessie decided to take up on his offer, but soon found there was nothing good on TV, so she settled for channel surfing, switching every few seconds. It was a small amusement, but it was something.

Meanwhile, Luke began digging through his drawers, looking for a tee shirt that wouldn't look that ridiculous on her, and an old pair of sweats. After seeming like forever, he found something suitable and walked back to her. He tossed her the clothes and said, "I hope those fit. If not, I can find something else, maybe. The bathroom is the first door on the left," he reminded her.

Jessie smiled at him and nodded. "Thanks Luke. And I promise I'll be out of your hands soon," she added, chuckling.

"Trust me, it's no problem," he said seriously.

They held each other's gazes for a moment, before Jessie nodded once again, and went to change, clutching the warm clothes.

She felt much more comfortable in his clearly-from-freshman-year university t-shirt and very baggy sweatpants. After changing, she took her wet clothes and stuffed them in a plastic bag she found in the bathroom's closet. She left the room and went back to join Luke who was idly flipping through channels, as Jessie had been doing not too long before.

"Find anything good?" she asked, plopping down on the couch next to him and letting the bagged clothes fall to the floor.

Luke seemed surprised that she had appeared, but the shock slowly melted away, and he chuckled. "Nope, can't find anything good." He muted the TV and threw the remote to the side, turning to face Jessie. And boy did she look _good_ in his clothes, he thought.

"Feel better?" he was able to spit out without totally embarrassing himself.

"Much, thank you Luke."

He was about to speak when a muffled beeping sound made Jessie jump and reach for the bag of wet clothes. She reached for her jeans, finding the pocket that held her cell phone, and took it out. Seeing that it was yet _another_ call from Darla, she sighed.

"Work?" Luke guessed, and she nodded. "Ah."

"Yeah. I can't take one day off," she muttered, and then chuckled. "What about you?"

Luke looked at her in confusion. "Huh?"

Jessie rolled her eyes. "Do you have a job?"

He looked down sheepishly. "No, currently living off of a trust fund."

Jessie have him a half smile. "I know it's hard to find work now a days. Hey- maybe I could hook you up with a job at Music Cares. You could do a dance class, the kids would love that!"

He beamed at her. "Seriously? That would be awesome!"

"Yeah! I'll talk to Darla about it tomorrow and get you set up. It won't be weird that I'll be your boss, will it?"

Luke scoffed. "Babe, I had to live with you being my boss for _years_. I think I can do it again."

Jessie laughed. "Right. Forgot."

"Of course you would forget."

She made a noise of protest. "That is so not true! I have the memory of an-"

"A fish?"

She huffed. "No, I was going to say an elephant."

"Well then, let's see if you remember this," Luke said, before surging forward and attaching his lips to hers.

Jessie made a surprised muffled noise before melting underneath his touch. He held her face gently, hardly holding, just ghosting, really, but it was enough to keep her in place. Before she could do much, however, Luke was pulling back, his eyes closed, and a content smile on his face.

All Jessie was able to squeak out was, "I remember it."

And then Luke was back, staring at her with those eyes. They were a deep dark brown, like melted chocolate. And his lips, lush and pink were holding a smirk in place, and she became envious because she wanted his lips to be holding hers in place.

But then she began to be rational with herself. She could walk away now and never have to see Luke again! Forget about the kiss, forget that she would have to return his clothes eventually, forget that she just offered him a job, forget how much it made her hurt thinking of how much she missed he Ross family...

"Oh, screw it all," she muttered, fisting a hand in his shirt and pulling him towards her, capturing his lips in a matching kiss.

* * *

All of it was spontaneous, neither of them planned to be kissing on Luke's couch that day at 2:27 pm, neither of them planned to be anything more than friends. But then she got him coffee, and he smiled, and she laughed, and he took her arm, and her fiery red hair flowed over her shoulder, and he insisted on paying for the pizza, and she wore his clothes, and he said things, and she, and he, and then it all fit like a puzzle.

And then days and days later, weeks and weeks after, she thought, _Jessie Ross, I like the sound of that._

And Luke had smirked, and said that he did too.

And then she was stuck getting coffee- decaf, double milk- each morning just to please him, but she didn't mind much anymore.

Because that's what you do for the man that calls you his babe.

* * *

**So? Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it, and please review!**

**-Love**


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